Neurologist, Brace Clinic and Physical Therapy

Teddy had his first appointment with the Pediatric Neurologist. On physical examination she diagnosed him with Spastic Quadriplegia Cerebral Palsy and static encephalopathy. He also showed minimal reflex response. We have an appointment scheduled for an MRI in a week. I am not looking forward to that as he is not supposed to eat/drink anything after 5:30 AM. It will be around 1:00 PM until they are finished. We all know with a 10 month old, forbidding food or formula for that long will be a nightmare.
We also had to go back to the brace clinic to turn in his hand splint to get it modified. He only had the left hand splint and, due to the design, he acquired a sore on his thumb right at the top joint on the underside. This was caused by him keeping his thumb clenched. They are going to modify both the left and right hand splint so that his thumb barely peeks out.
Physical Therapy went well today. He got moody in the middle of therapy but he was in a different, much smaller room that hardly had any toys. We got more exercises to work on, one being standing on one foot. This will help strengthen his hip muscles. Children with his diagnosis are at a much greater risk of having hip dislocations.
I think prior to his neurology appointment I still had a glimmer of hope that he was diagnosed wrong. It would make things alot easier if his Daddy was home to help out but right now that is impossible.

And it continues....

These past few month have been full of craziness! Ted deployed to Iraq in May when Teddy was only 4 1/2 months old. It was sad seeing him leave..he is missing out on so much! In August Teddy was diagnosed with Spastic Diplegia Cerebral Palsy. This effects his muscles which in turn effects how he learns to do simple things as sitting up and walking. He received his leg braces and hand splints a week ago and seems to be adapting well. They have to some modifications on his hand braces still. I have seen a huge difference already as the braces give him more strength to sit up and stand. He attends physical therapy once a week and will be starting speech therapy soon.

Teddy has come a long way....from a 3lb 11 oz. premature baby to a 19 lb spaghetti monster. He is crawling everywhere and my day is spent chasing him around. He has even started to cruise the furniture attempting to climb up. Last weekend we visited a pumpkin patch. It was a bit cold but we had a great time! We can't wait until Halloween so we can take Teddy out for trick 'or treating.

The Beginning.....

Teddy was born Dec 10, 2008. He was 8 weeks premature and remained in the NICU for a month. He stopped breathing shortly after birth and had apnea spells until he was released to come home. His diagnosis of Cerebral Palsy was hard to deal with at first. His Daddy is deployed to Afghanistan and I have had to deal with the multitude of appointments on my own. I can only imagine the fear his Daddy has as he is not here to talk to the doctors so he could completely understand..Teddy recently got his AFO's and hand splints, although they need to modify the hand splints still. I am learning to cope with the hectic doctor appointment schedule...I have no choice. I recently came to the realization that this is something we are going to have to handle the rest of our lives so I have no choice but to continue on as I am.